SPORTS BRIEFS

Agencies

CRICKET

Batsman joins illustrious list

Lancashire’s Jordan Clark has become only the fifth batsman to hit six sixes in one over during a professional match. The English County said in a statement on Wednesday that the 22-year-old had achieved the feat in a Championship Second XI game against Yorkshire to join an illustrious list of names. Former West Indies all-rounder Garfield Sobers was the first man to do it, in 1968, and Indian Ravi Shastri followed suit in 1985. South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs smashed six sixes in an over at the 2007 World Cup and Indian Yuvraj Singh did the same at the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup the same year.

RUGBY UNION

Ex-England star hit by bus

Former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani was in hospital with concussion yesterday after being hit by a bus, his club Sale Sharks said. The 25-year-old had been on a night out in the city of Leeds with his Sale teammates and a club spokesman confirmed he was being treated for concussion. Cipriani, who has seven England caps, joined Sale on a three-year deal last year in a bid to revive his international career after a controversy-marred stint with Australian club the Melbourne Rebels. While in Australia he was under the spotlight for breaching team discipline on a number of occasions. Cipriani landed in hot water in 2011 for taking a bottle of vodka from the bar of a nightclub without paying for it and was later stood down for a month for breaching team curfews and failing to turn up to training.

BOXING

Pacquiao eyes Macau fight

Fight legend Manny Pacquiao will likely face either of US fighters Brandon Rios or Mike Alvarado in Macau in November, his promoter Bob Arum said yesterday. The Filipino, 34, who has won an unprecedented eight world titles in different weight divisions, had wanted to fight either Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez or unbeaten US boxer Timothy Bradley, who both beat him last year. However, they decided to fight each other in Las Vegas in September. “The choice is between Alvarado and Rios,” Arum said, conceding that Marquez or Bradley had been his initial priorities. Pacquiao’s next fight was pushed back because October was a busy month for Macau with many holidays, making November a better choice, Arum said. Pacquiao lost his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown in June last year in a controversial points decision to Bradley, then suffered a knockout defeat to Marquez.

Badminton

Rookie beats idol Hidayat

Indian rookie H.S. Prannoy fulfilled a long-cherished dream yesterday, playing childhood idol Taufik Hidayat and beating him by frequently unleashing effective backhand strokes he modeled on the retiring Indonesian stalwart. Former world and Olympic champion Hidayat, 31, will hang up is racket in June and he clearly struggled against an Indian 11 years younger as Prannoy won 26-24, 21-9 in the round of 16 at the India Open super series tournament. “It was a dream to play him [Hidayat]. More than winning, I was thinking more about coming and playing him here,” Prannoy said. “Obviously in childhood days, everybody wants to imitate their idols. I did it so many times. I’m a professional player now and I have my own strokes, but if you notice, I have a strong backhand and I learnt it from watching him, the basic technique of hitting a backhand.”